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Thursday, 28 August 2014 Blog ehdf

Cloud Security Myths

One of the most discussed topics among IT professions today is– ‘The Cloud’. Organizations are readily making the shift to cloud computing and increasingly exploring the potential benefits associated with cloud. It comes as no surprise when Gartner says that cloud computing will become the bulk of new IT spend by 2016.

However, despite the increased growth rate in the adoption of the cloud, there are many organizations still hesitant in making the shift. One of the primary barriers to adoption is cloud security.

Below, we talk about some of the most common myths associated with cloud security and try to separate fiction from reality:

Myth: If I am on the cloud, other cloud subscribers can access my data
Reality: Within a cloud, there are firewalls that separate various subscribers from each other and breaking these firewalls is by no means easy. However, if you are still concerned, don’t forget that cloud is customizable. You just need to discuss this with your cloud services provider who can easily setup a virtual private cloud, which is like an extension to your own data center.

Myth: I don’t know where my data is located
Reality: Data location is a key concern to many organizations. However, despite moving your workload and applications to the cloud, you can have complete control on the stored data as well as its location by choosing a local private cloud services provider.

Myth: Cloud providers are not as trustworthy as my own IT team
Reality: Many organizations think that cloud providers do not care for their data as much as their own IT teams. However, think about this—if there is a data breach, you will suffer losses, but your services provider will definitely go out of business! It is therefore essential for cloud providers to offer high level of security at all times.

While we have addressed three of the most common cloud security myths, it is recommended that companies examine the security and compliance requirements of each application that they wish to migrate to the cloud. It is a good practice to know which application is cloud ready and what level of security your cloud services provider is offering.